MetroHealth is lining up interviewees for CEO post

The MetroHealth System plans to bring in a slate of candidates “as soon as possible” to interview for its CEO post, and it hopes to have its next leader in place by mid-year, according to Ronald Fountain, chairman of the health system's board of trustees.
After a nearly year-long search, MetroHealth lost its top choice last November when Dr. John Brennan, CEO of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in New Jersey, suddenly reneged on his commitment to take over the health system subsidized by Cuyahoga County.
Dr. Fountain said the search for Mark Moran's replacement is on a “pretty good path,” and the committee is lining up schedules to bring in the candidates. Late last month, the board installed Dr. Edward Hills, the health system's chief operating officer, as interim CEO after Mr. Moran notified the board in December he wouldn't stick around until his permanent successor was named.
Dr. Fountain said the search committee plans to bring in fewer than 10 prospects — perhaps five to seven, though he couldn't provide an exact number — to interview for the post. He wouldn't disclose the identity of the candidates, but noted the search committee wouldn't turn away anyone who was qualified “whether they're local or from outside of the city.”
Dr. Fountain said MetroHealth is sticking with its search firm, Witt Kiefer, which brought Dr. Brennan to MetroHealth's attention. He noted there was nothing MetroHealth or the search firm could have done to predict Dr. Brennan's decision to back out of the job.
“We would have rather found out that there was a character issue then, than three or five months into that person's tenure,” he said.
Dr. Fountain said the search has piqued the interest of candidates who weren't necessarily interested in the post during the first go-around; he noted that “the fact that somebody with Brennan's profile was committed to do the job and was interested in it, I think that helps.”
Dr. Brennan was poised to earn an annual salary of $685,000 — $135,000 more than his would-be predecessor, Mr. Moran. The value of Dr. Brennan's total compensation package would have been between $750,000 and $1.1 million.
Dr. Fountain's term on MetroHealth's board will expire in March, but he said he would continue to assist with the pursuit for the health system's next leader should the search committee need his help.

Books look better

Meanwhile, the health system's finances, which have been dinged in recent years due to the rising amount of uncompensated care it provides to the county's indigent, are on the upswing, according to Dr. Fountain. Once the health system's 2012 books are audited, he expects MetroHealth to have met its goal of posting a $10 million surplus.
In addition, MetroHealth's books for 2013 are expected to be buoyed by an infusion of new dollars thanks to federal regulators signing off recently on a complex legal maneuver that could extend Medicaid coverage to as many as 30,000 people in Cuyahoga County. The move will let the health system receive some compensation for care for which it hadn't been paid in the past.
Last year, the health system provided $130 million in uncompensated care.